October 2010 LSAT Section 3 Question 4

The legislature is considering a proposed bill that would prohibit fishing in Eagle Bay. Despite widespread concern o...

rswafra on July 15, 2022

Premises | Conclusion | Intermediary Conclusion

I identified the parts of the passage as such, and am just curious if I am off base on them: "The legislature considering a proposed bill" - just background, intro statement "Despite widespread concerns, the bill should be enacted" - conclusion "The Bay has one of the highest water pollution levels" - premise "Continuing to permit fishing in eagle bay" - premise OR intermediary conclusion? I wasn't sure about this one....

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jakennedy on July 15, 2022

Hi @rswafra,

Seems like you are mostly correct. Just keep in mind that a sentence can have multiple parts with different functions. The statement that “the bill should be enacted” is indeed the main conclusion, but the first half of that sentence is more of a counter-premise.

You are correct in that the final sentence is part of the evidence. We know it is a conclusion becaue the word “thus” is a conclusion indicator. Since the final sentence is supporting the statement that you identified as the main conclusion, it cannot itself be the main conclusion, so it is best labeled an intermediary conclusion.